In Denver, on my way to Bismarck to join the Totem Pole Journey. We go to the Oceti Sakowin Camp, in Cannon Ball, Standing Rock in the morning. My father was born at Wakpala, and I Sundanced at Little Eagle on the Standing Rock in the early 1980's.
I look forward to seeing relatives not visited for some years. My Tahansi Volney Fasthorse is going to take me to the St. Bede and St Elizabeth Cemeteries at Wakpala and to the Family Cemetary at Cannon Ball, where the physical dimensions of our grandparents Harry and Lillian Fast Horse and other relatives rest.
Hopefully, Tanksi Faith Spotted Eagle will be able to join us, as well as, Tahansi Greg Sherwood . We will make offerings and have prayers for relatives in the Other Side Camp, as I did every summer with my father since I was a small boy.
As I think about those countless times with my dad, visiting departed relatives, many memories and stories flood my mind. Especially, Winsfield Loves War born, Apr. 7, 1913 died. Sep. 18, 1944, my father's best friend, and Tahansi, during the time he lived at Wakpala as a young boy with his Grandfather Tipi Sapa, Philip Deloria. Winnie was blown up in Sicily in 1944 during WW II but is not forgotten.
And of course, we will visit Chief Gall. We will pray and ask him, and our relatives who surround him, for their spiritual support for victory over the Dakota Access Pipeline and all other efforts to destroy our Beloved Mother Earth and our Future Generations!
For some, prayers for those who have left this physical world, as well as, the firm knowledge and understanding that those in the spiritual world are always praying for us, may seem strange, but it is a spiritual reality for many relatives of the Human Family!
